News
Nigeria Business Leaders Tasked on Customer-focused Innovation
Nigeria’s business leaders have been advised to define innovation from customers’ perspective in order to provide value to their clients.
The advice was given by a Professor of Innovation and Marketing and Founder/President of the Nobel International Business School (NIBS), Accra, Ghana, Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, during a virtual presentation of a paper titled: “Innovation in Crisis Environment: The Role of Corporate Directors,” during the 2020 edition of Fellows’ Investiture ceremony of the Institute of Direcrors (IoD) Nigeria in Lagos.
Atuahene-Gima said it was important for businesses to define and understand competition from customers and not products’ perspective by focusing on creating and delivering unique value that makes competition irrelevant.
“Differentiating your products or services from competition is best achieved by adding new tangible features,” he said while emphasising that, “value to the customer should always be tangible and something that visibly adds to the customers benefit.”
He also added that not every customer would be satisfied merely with a product or service that is of high quality, reliable, durable and error free.
“What customers want from the core product,” according to him, are, “the features that make the product or service work, which are always the most important to customers and should receive the most attention from the company.”
Speaking during the investiture ceremony, the President and Chairman of Council, IoD Nigeria, Mr. Chris Okunowo, charged the recipients of the awards to continue to uphold good corporate governance principles and be guided by the ethical code of the institute at all levels in their work places and in their business affairs.
Okonowo said that it was important to note that despite the COVID-19 challenges, the IoD Nigeria has continued to demonstrate greater concern and commitment to work with all stakeholders in order to engender a business-friendly environment for a robust economic growth.
He said: “More particularly, we have continued to canvass for good corporate governance of all private and public sector organisations in the country and will continue to partner with all business and thought leaders from both the public and private sectors to push forward innovative ideas for our collective benefits.
“I, therefore, implore both existing and new Fellows to be alive to their duties and responsibilities by rising up to the challenge by supporting the Institute and also continue to be great mascots of our Institute and wear this badge of honour with a consciousness that we look up to you as the custodians of our heritage.”
The recipients of the fellowship award were Ms. Ngozi Chibututu, Mr. Ben Onuora, Dr. Ebun Sonaiya, Mr. Victor Eburajolo and Mr. Edmund Yomi Jones.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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